Luciano Pavarotti

Music Week, the leading business paper for the UK recording industry, this week splashes Luciano Pavarotti on its front cover, declaring: “The Return of the World’s Greatest Voice”. The front cover recognition heralds a new double album with which Decca Classics honours the great Italian tenor.

With its 54-year-history (it was launched as Record Retailer in 1959), Music Week has long been the voice of the industry and its coveted front cover is a reflection of the importance placed on this historic Pavarotti release.

Half a century after Pavarotti took the music world by storm with his golden voice and sunny personality, Pavarotti: The 50 Greatest Tracks offers two CDs bursting with digitally remastered versions of his finest recordings.

Fifty years ago, the Italian tenor made a memorable appearance on mass-audience UK TV show Sunday Night at the Sunday Palladium, made his debut at the Royal Opera House in La Bohème – and signed with Decca, releasing his first album. That significant year marked the beginning of a unique musical partnership which sparked so many award-winning recordings for the rest of the tenor’s life.

Now the label is set to release a unique historic recording that has lain dormant in the archives for 50 years – Pavarotti singing “Che gelida manina” from La Bohème, the work that first captured the public’s attention.

Remastered and made available to the public for the first time, the track features on a double album that also offer his immortal recordings of “Nessun dorma” (more than 65 million YouTube views) , “La donna è mobile”, “Granada” and duets with Frank Sinatra, Bono, Eric Clapton and Sting among the 50 timeless recordings.

The larger-than-life Pavarotti sold over 100 million albums, making him the best-selling classical artist in history. He was a six-time Grammy Award winner, and held Guinness World Records for receiving the most curtain calls (165) and for the best-selling classical album (The Three Tenors).

Luciano Pavarotti had a voice that seemed imbued with the bright southern sunshine of his native Italy. Decca Classics managing director Paul Moseley says: “Quite simply, he had the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. So bright and exciting, almost like a vocal trumpet. And his personality was big, everything was big, the charisma, the smile, the voice, the clothes and, of course, the man himself.”

Pavarotti: The 50 Greatest Tracks is released on 2 September – 50 outstanding tracks celebrating 50 momentous years of music and one exceptional talent.